Sarah Katherine Sisk rides the escalators. Courtesy | Kamden Mulder

The two escalators in the Searle Center are the only set in Hillsdale County —  a tidbit of unexpected and memorable trivia that prospective students and families can take home and marvel about.

While Hillsdale’s student ambassadors have spread the escalator conspiracy for years, the validity recently came into question. After the Admissions Department conducted some investigative journalism of its own, the question of whether or not Hillsdale College has the only escalators in the county has been confirmed.

Junior Jake Waldvogel, a student ambassador for the college, put those speculations to rest.

“I first heard the rumor that the hospital may have had another two years ago, so clearly it was pretty well circulated,” Waldvogel said. “There has never been another escalator, so ours was the first and only in the county.”

The rumored hospital escalator has been a topic of discussion within the Hillsdale College admissions department for a long time before senior Isabella Socha finally debunked it.

“For our development event last semester, the admissions SALT team — student admissions leadership team — decided to do myth busters as one of the sections,” Socha said. “The myth that I searched up was ‘Where is the other escalator in Hillsdale?’”

Socha’s investigations proved to be successful.

“When I called the hospital where we thought it was, they informed me they did not have an escalator,” Socha said. “When I told the SALT team, we realized there was no place in Hillsdale where we knew of the escalator.”

The ongoing construction and maintenance of the college escalators, however, only adds to the general lore and overall attention.

“The state of Michigan has very specific escalator codes, which were recently updated. It was inspected at the end of December and did not meet the code,” Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé explained. “Parts were needed and ordered at the end of December. We expect it to be working again by the end of this month.”

Maintenance workers have tested the newly up-to-code escalators but closed the pair for even more repairs.

“We had it running recently, but it needed adjustments, so we are waiting for those to be made by a third party,” Péwé said.

While the presence of one set of escalators may seem trivial, some students believe that the college should work on adding escalators to other buildings and the Searle Center.

Junior Karin Shively said Hillsdale College should invest in more escalators on campus to make the buildings more accessible for students who do not like using elevators or stairs.

“I refuse to take elevators because I’m claustrophobic,” Shively said. “Therefore, the escalator is the best option when I don’t want to walk up or down stairs.”

Despite the lack of escalators in other places on campus, the Searle Center’s escalator continues to be a conversation starter and a memorable feature for those who visit or attend Hillsdale College.

For Waldvogel, the escalator is more than a simple mode of transportation — it is part of the charm that makes Hillsdale College stand out from other institutions in the region.

“I would also say as an ambassador that I’m glad ours is the only one because it sounds a lot better to prospective students to hear that we have the only escalator in Hillsdale County,” Waldvogel said. “It makes it seem like Hillsdale College is at the forefront of our county’s transportation accessibility amenities.”